World Federation of Trade Unions
The trade unions signing this statement reject the state government’s draft labour proposal, and its failure to fulfil its commitment to repeal the reform, as it has done with other promises made to the citizens. The agreement reached in the framework of the social dialogue between the government, the trade unions UGT and CCOO and the employers’ association CEOE, does not repeal either the labour reform of 2012 or the labour reform of the 2010 Zapatero government. The government’s priority of bringing the employers’ side into the agreement has given to employers the right to veto, and the lack of pressure and mobilisation of the signatory unions has resulted in a Labour Reform tailored to the employers interests. We want to put special emphasis on the fact that this Labour Reform proposal does not include measures to correct the centralization of collective bargaining imposed by the labour reforms of 2010 and 2012, so that the sectoral agreements agreed in our territories will continue to be subordinated to the state level agreements. The state bargaining framework has proved to be less combative and the sacralisation of that framework by this reform is an attempt to attenuate trade union struggles in the stateless nations. At the same time, it seems to us very serious that the proposed labour reform does not modify the regulations established by the 2012 labour reform on dismissals. As we have seen in recent years, employers have used this reform to dismiss workers unilaterally, without any guarantee or defence for workers. Therefore, this reform perpetuates the precariousness of the labour market, as employers will always have in their hands the weapon of dismissals to put pressure on workers. It is important to remember that the proposed Labour Reform goes in line with the Brussels demands and its blackmail in order to access the European Funds. As we denounced at the time, the Economic Funds of the European Commission are not funds for the working class and the popular classes to face with dignity the consequences of the crisis generated by Covid. These funds are nothing more than financial aid to large corporations to enable them to cope with the structural changes they need to address and, as this Labour Reform demonstrates, they were subordinated to the implementation by governments of economic policies benefiting the elites. This non-repeal of the Labour Reform and the continuous non-fulfilment of its promises by the state government, shows the limits of the social dialogue framework and the political framework of the Spanish state. If the most progressive government of the Spanish state does not have the capacity to repeal the Labour Reform, nor to make policies that benefit the working class and the popular classes, it is clear that the only way to change the model, also for the working class of the Spanish state, is the exercise of the right to decide for the people, so the people will be able to decide its future freely and democratically, Signatories: Central Unitaria de Traballadoras de Galiza, Colectivo Unitario de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores de Aragón, Corriente Sindical d’izquierdas Asturies, ESK Euskal Herria, Coordinadora Obrera Sindical Països Catalans, Intersindical Alternativa de Catalunya, Intersindical Canaria, Intersindical de Catalunya, Intersindical Valenciana, LAB Sindikatua Euskal Herria, Sindicato Andaluz de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras, Sendicato d’os Treballadors e Treballadoras d’Aragon-Sindicato Obrero Aragones, STEI Balears.
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Basque Country – LAB: Class oriented trade unionism rejects the Spanish government’s draft labour reform